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Marrakech – A groundbreaking submarine fiber optic cable project will soon create a vital digital link between Morocco and Spain’s Canary Islands, positioning the archipelago as a strategic telecommunications hub in the Atlantic.
The initiative, set to begin installation in late 2025, represents a major advancement in Europe-Africa connectivity.
The project is led by Spanish company Islalink in partnership with Canalink, an operator linked to the Tenerife Council and the Technological Institute for Renewable Energy (ITER), according to Okdiario.
Strengthening Europe-Africa digital connectivity
The planned route will start at the port of Arinaga (Gran Canaria), pass through Gran Tarajal (Fuerteventura), and reach the Moroccan coast, likely at Tarfaya or Boujdour.
With an estimated budget of €49 million, the project has secured €20 million from the European Investment Bank (BEI). The initial phase has already received €7.5 million from European funds for studies and design, as noted by National Geographic España.
Construction will span approximately 42 months, with the cable expected to be operational by 2028, Okdiario reports. The initiative is part of the European Connecting Europe Facility (CEF-Digital) program, which aims to improve digital cohesion, strengthen cybersecurity, and increase data exchange capacity between continents.
From a technical perspective, this submarine cable is a complex structure composed of ultrathin glass fibers covered with insulation layers, metal protection, and coatings designed to withstand abyssal pressures, ocean currents, and marine life curiosity.
Each fiber carries modulated light pulses that can support combined traffic of voice, video, financial data, and scientific applications, according to National Geographic España.
The cable will expand the Canary Islands’ international connection map, which already includes systems like ACE (Africa Coast to Europe), WACS (West African Cable System), and 2Africa. This integration strengthens the islands’ position in global telecommunications networks.
A critical advantage of this new connection is redundancy. In telecommunications, this means that if one connection is interrupted by a technical failure or unforeseen event, the network can reroute traffic without affecting users – essential for an island territory like the Canaries.
The project also aligns with broader technological initiatives, including the Alisios satellite constellation, a space control teleport, expansion of the ITER supercomputer, and creation of new technology spaces in Tenerife.
Perplexing media coverage in Spain
Yet it comes as Spanish media outlets continue their deliberately misleading and politically motivated coverage regarding Morocco’s southern provinces.
These publications shamelessly characterize the cable route as “controversial” and falsely claim it enters “disputed waters,” blatantly ignoring Madrid’s own official position.
The central Spanish government, led by Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, formally endorsed Morocco’s Autonomy Plan in April 2022 as the most credible, serious, and realistic framework to resolve the artificial regional dispute. The move was welcomed by regional governments, including the Canary Islands under President Fernando Clavijo Batlle.
These outdated and biased Spanish media narratives fly in the face of growing international recognition of Morocco’s sovereignty, with major French and American corporations having established substantial investments worth billions in the region’s infrastructure, renewable energy, and phosphate industries.
Such investments would be impossible in a genuinely “disputed” territory, exposing the hollow nature of these Spanish publications’ claims.
For Morocco and the Canary Islands, this submarine cable promises to strengthen data traffic between West Africa and Europe, improve internet quality and speed, and promote the establishment of data centers and technological infrastructure in the region, ultimately creating a new digital bridge across the Atlantic.
Read also: Nokia to Power Medusa Submarine Cable Connecting Morocco to Europe
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